Home
by imaginesakura
Summary: After the loss of Naruto, Sakura attacks Sasuke and ends up waking up in an unfamiliar place. After learning about the new world, Sakura decides to try to find her way home. To do this she decides to enter the grand line. No pairings as of yet.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys this is my first ever fanfic. In all honesty Im not much of a writer but I get these crazy ideas about anime and books so I decided I just needed to write them down. These are 2 of my favourite anime. I hope you enjoy the story line. Any tips or pointers on how to write better will be much appreciated. Please be kind :)

I do not own Naruto or One piece.

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She couldn't believe it. He was dead. Their hope, their light had been taken from them. But not just by anyone, he was taken by his best friend, her first crush and their former team mate. She held him in her arms as blood trickled out from the hole that now punctured his abdomen and the deep cut that was imbedded in his thigh. She could see the green glow of her chakra waning as she pushed her chakra to the limits trying to seal the wounds closed.

She knew the truth though. She couldn't save him. She was weak and she had always been weak. She looked towards the night sky praying that this was just a nightmare, that she would wake up and see the light in his bright cerulean eyes that had faded to a dull blue. That he would smile at her like he use to or that Tsunade would arrive and everything would be okay. She would heal him. But all she saw was a crimson moon shedding light on the land littered with the bodies of her fallen comrades.

As her gaze lowered and the chakra in her hands ceased, she looked to the battle between her sensei and the person responsible for his death. How could he do this? Weren't they nakama? She should have trusted her gut when he first appeared, but she had been so hopeful and Naruto had been so confident. She relied on him again. She believed that Naruto could change him. That Naruto could fix things and everything would go back to how it used to be.

If only he could see! But it was too late. Sasuke was lost to us long ago and now he had taken Naruto with him. She could feel the tears begin to rush to her eyes and she held back a sob as they began to stream down her face. She gently caressed his face before lifting her hand higher to close his eyes. _I'm Sorry, Naruto. _She thought. _If only I had been stronger I could have saved you. I'm so sorry. _She cried softly to herself before slowly getting to her feet.

She could feel the muscles aching in her legs as she stood straight with her shoulders hunched and her short pink locks in front of her eyes. She slowly pushed her remaining chakra around her body, feeling out how much she had left. She barely had any chakra left after trying to heal Naruto, but she didn't need much for what she was planning to do.

She couldn't just leave everything to Kakashi-sensei. She knew deep down that if he were to kill Sasuke he would never forgive himself. And now that Naruto was gone, Kakashi didn't have the privilege of drowning himself in his own sorrows. This was war and the village needs him. Sakura would take care of Sasuke. He was no longer the boy she had fallen in love with and he hadn't been for a long time. Sakura would save him from himself, just like she had planned to do before the war. But this time she would strengthen her resolve. She could no longer rely on Naruto to save her. She would stop being a cry baby and start acting like a real shinobi.

She clenched her hand into a fist and lifted her head to observe the fight between Kakashi and Sasuke. Then shifted her legs into her usual fighting position. This was no longer about team seven. They were in a war and she sure as hell wasn't going to let him destroy the hope they now had for peace in the future. She took off in a sprint towards the battle not bothering to conceal her chakra because of how low it was.

As she got closer she narrowed her eyes, analysing the battle scene. She watched as both Kakashi and Sasuke charged each other with their chidori. Despite his outward appearance Sasuke seemed to have the upper-hand in the battle. Kakashi had already battled and defeated Tobi as well as lead the third division into battle. He looked exhausted, his breathing was ragged and he seemed to be holding his side from a possible stab wound. Sasuke was covered in blood but judging from his regal posture he didn't seem to have many wounds and if he did, he was hiding them well.

They withdew from each other and both pulled out kunai getting ready to charge again but before they could she saw Kakashi say something before falling to his knees. Sasuke began to walk slowly towards Kakashi while drawing his kusanagi. Sakura chose this moment to charge into the fight. She gathered half of her remaining chakra into her feet to increase her speed. She was only a metre away before Sasuke suddenly turned to face her while she was mid-air with her fist raised. He lifted his blade in her direction piercing her through the stomach as she was unable to stop. Sakura could feel a numbness in her stomach where the kusanagi had gone through her. She looked down to judge the damage only to see the cause for the numbness. Streams of white hot lightning were being conducted through the blade into her body, paralysing her. She looked up into Sasuke's face as the conduction increased to notice he was smiling.

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><p>"Sakura, you're still annoying." He grinned wider at the hurt look in her eyes at his words. She deserved it. It was because of weak shinobi like her that his family were killed. Because they feared the Uchiha's power! Because they were weak his brother was forced to murder his own clan. They blindly followed the orders of a corrupt system led by some old bastards who are only interested in benefitting themselves and making sure that they weren't threatened. He would change all that. He would kill all the elders and then anyone who had been disillusioned by the idea of the will of fire. It was a loud of crap. And where better to start then at those closest to the Hokage.<p>

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sudden tug of his sword. Before he noticed what was happening he was thrust forward and there was a hand reaching towards his eyes. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness were her determined eyes and then everything went black.

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><p>The first thing she became aware of was the soothing sound of waves. <em>Hmm maybe the afterlife has a beach. <em>She immediately brightened at the thought of that. _Ahh…I haven't been to a beach in a while. That'd be quite nice. _A creaking sound was heard next followed by loud shouting that she couldn't decipher. She also became aware of a light rocking movement. As the memories of what happen came back to her she quickly opened her eyes almost regretting it as soon as it happened. Light directly above her blinded her causing her vision to go white.

"Please keep your eyes shut I'll turn down the lights so you can open them again." Said a confident masculine voice. Following orders, Sakura waited until the okay then slowly began to open her eyes. The first thing she saw was the softly swaying wooden ceiling. She blinked a few times to clear her vision before turning her head in the direction the footsteps were coming from.

A smiling face greeted her. "We weren't sure if you were going to make it." He said while walking to her. "How are you feeling?" He asked. Her first thoughts were that she must be at one of the other villages recovering. Probably the hidden mist or on the way there judging from the look of the boat. "Thank you. For taking care of me." She smiled. "Are we on our way to Mist?" She inquired.

"Mist? I've never heard of it. We're in the East Blue at the moment. On our way to Foosha Village. The name's Arto by the way. And once we get there you'll be able to get checked over by a proper doctor. Sorry we couldn't do much for you, our supplies on board are limited. Especially since we are just now making our return trip from.."

From that point sakura had stopped listening. _Foosha Village_. She had never heard of it or remembered seeing it on any of the maps Tsunade-Shishou had made her study. Her mind began to focus on her surroundings. She studied the man who was still talking to her. _He didn't look like he came from anyone of the main shinobi villages. He was quite tanned so maybe he was from a coastal village somewhere. He lacked a headband signifying him as a shinobi and he most definatley didn't have the build of one despite his age. _The conclusion she came to was too unreal. So she focussed on something else. The war. He would have had to know about the war. Just as she was about to question him about the war, the door to the room was flung open to reveal a middle-aged man brandishing a sword.

The first thing she noticed about him was that he was missing a couple of teeth and that he desperately needed to shave. He was wearing khaki pants rolled up mid-calf and had on a long loose-fitting blue shirt that was v-cut to show off his chest. In all he looked somewhat poor and sick.

"Pirates!" Arto exclaimed. The pirate grinned stretching his face to unnatural proportions before charging forward towards arto with his sword. It took sakura a whole of two seconds to react. She sat up abruptly and pushed Arto back causing him to land on the floor just in time. The momentum from the thrust of the blade at Arto caused the man to stagger forward into sakuras reach. She lifted herself slightly on the bed, gripped his hand which was still around the hilt of the blade and thrust her elbow into his face. A resounding crack could be heard in the room. The so-called pirate then fell to the floor face first.

She looked over to Arto to check for injuries. He looked fine despite the shocked look on his face. Metal on metal could be heard above deck. Sakura slowly got up causing Arto to come out of his shock. "Wait! Your not well enough to move!" He said while scrambling up to push on her shoulder so she would sit back down. She smiled at him before standing up. "I'll be right back." She said quietly before making her way out the door and up the stairs to the top of the ship. As she reached the top and came out of the cabin, she analysed the fights that were happening judging most of the fighters to be genin level at best she lifted her hand and whistled so loud everyone could hear.

Everyone stopped fighting to look at the pink-haired ninja. "If you don't want to die, I suggest you stop fighting now." She glared at each of them. One of the pirates was the first to act. Lifting his gun from his belt and firing at her. Not expecting it, the bullet lightly grazes her left cheek. "Or what are you going to do about it pinky?!" He sneered. Her eyes widen and before the pirate could even blink, she was behind him. And all hell broke loose.

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><p>Sakura stood on deck of the ship heading towards Foosha Village. The wind rustled her short rosette locks from her face. The day was cooling down as the sun began to set. She had needed little assistance when dealing with the pirates from the other day. The small scratch from where she was hit by the 'gun' weapon had scabbed over on her left cheek. She couldn't be bothered healing it, in actuallity it would just be a waste of chakra. She had realised after speaking with Arto properly that she was in a place called the east blue. It was one of the known oceans that made up the known world. He spoke about the north blue and south blue as well as the grandline and redline. By then sakura had come to three possible conclusions. One- She was dreaming and would soon wake up. Two- She was dead and this was the after life. Or three, which was most likely, She had been sent to another world by the sharigan kamui or at the least another part of her world unknown to shinobi.<p>

It was obvious that this world was quite dangerous. Unlike the shinobi nations, here you were more likely to die in your everyday life, either by pirates, thieves or some monster from the ocean. She had feigned memory loss saying that all she could remember was her name. Most of the crew accepted this and were still friendly with her, however after what they witnessed earlier some of them were reluctant to come too near her. Which she supposed was understandable. She did over do it a little. There were only a couple of holes in the deck. She'd hate to imagine how they would have reacted if she had gone all out. She sweat dropped. _If naruto were here I bet he could have gotten them to warm up to us._ She smiled sadly. She had been trying to avoid thinking about the deaths that occured during the war. All of the lives that were lost. She should have been there to help them heal. She was stupid and selfish. If she hadn't attacked sasuke, how many lives would she have been able to save. She didn't even know if she had accomplished what she set out to do. Was she successful in turning him blind or better yet did she kill him? She had so many unanswered questions and yet her biggest one was still unanswered. What was she going to do?

She had to make plans. When she arrived in Foosha village was she going to stay there or move? Did she want to try to find a way back to Konoha? Or was she going to give up and just live here? What was she thinking, of course she wanted to return to konoha. It's where her family and friends are. _Well whats left of them_. She thought to herself. Her eyes saddened further and she could feel a dull throb in her heart. _Why did I survive? Why couldn't it have been Naruto? He deserved to live, to have a life, to become Hokage. Afterall the pain her went through. _She closed her eyes and remembered her younger days. So many what could have beens. If things had been different. She re-opened her eyes. But things are different now. She is alive. And he is not. SHe had to learn to live with that. If anything, she would live for him. She would find a way to get back to konoha and then she would watch over it for naruto. After all, it was the place he loved the most. despite how much it hurt him once. But first things first, she had to learn about this world so that she could figure out where to go from there.

Sighing, she turned her back to the fading sun and walked to the kitchens where everyone was now eating.

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><p><em>6 months later<em>

Time seemed to be at a standstill for Sakura. For the past 5 months she had worked at a bar in the small village of Foosha while studying everything and anything about the East, South, West and North Blues, Redline and Grandline. Shortly after arriving here, she was taken in by the owner of a bar called Partys bar, Makino. Makino had been a very kind and gentle women during her stay with her. She had fed her, let her stay with her, gave her a job and even bought her new clothes. She reminded sakura a little of Shizune. She was like an older sister to sakura. Makino had a habit of knowing when sakura was feeling down and would try to cheer her up but she also knew when to just leave her to her own thoughts.

As well as working at the bar sakura occasionally went as a form of guard against pirates on ships exporting goods from Foosha to other villages on the Island. Once everyone had heard about her skill fighting the pirates on Arto's ship she had immediatley been welcomed in the village as a new protector. It was strange how welcoming they were despite not knowing much about her background. She felt that the mayor and Makino had certain theories about where she was from but held their tongues becaue it didn't matter. She had asked Makino one day why she never asked Sakura about her past or abilities. She remembered it clearly.

_Sakura was sitting at the bar with a bottle of saké reminiscing about days past when Makino came around from the bar to ask Sakura how she was going with her studies. It immediatley reminded her of Shizune when she would ask her in her younger days studying under Tsunade. The sudden comparison had made Sakura feel guilty for the first time since moving in with Makino. _

_"Makino-san, why haven't you ever asked me about my past?" she enquired softly, but her eyes never left Makino's face. She studied the slight suprise in her features followed by the softening of her eyes and the small smile that graced her lips. Makino was truly beautiful on the inside and out. _

_"Sakura-chan, I can see that you're a kind and honest person. I would rather you come and tell me when you're ready then force a lie out of you. When you're ready, I'll be here to listen to you at anytime. 'kay." When sakura looked down at her sake cup she realised that a few tears had leaked out from the corner of her eyes. She lifted her hands to wipe the tears but before she could Makino had pulled out a handkerchief and did it for her. Sakura was grinning like an idiot. She hadnt cried since she arrived in East blue. "Now, I was speaking with Chiken earlier and we wanted to give you some special tea thats said to help you increase your bust size." Sakura had immediatley scowled. "Way to ruin a moment." Sakura said while Makino just giggled. "Don't worry I'm sure you'll get a little bigger before you leave." Sakura frowned before picking up her sake and downing it in one gulp. She was already almost 18. There was no way she would grow in that department unless she ate a devil fruit that allows you to change your body shape. _

Sakura smiled at the memory thinking about her mentor and how she used to tease her about similar things. It had been almost two months since then and Sakura still hadn't told her story to Makino. She just wasn't sure what to tell the older women. Sakura stood in a deserted part of the mountain practicing her swings with the kusanagi. Despite, not knowing much about this world she had decided to continue with her training. She had been training with the sword since she arrived in case she ever needed it and working the chakra in her seal back up. She noticed that swords and guns were the prefered method of fighting if you didnt have a devil fruit ability. Sakura was probably fast enough to dodge while fighting hand to hand but she still thought it was a good idea to learn more than one form of combat.

She was wearing a pair of short blue denim shorts with a dark, red, loose Singlet while laying on the floor looking at the sky when Makino found her for dinner. The only clothes she had kept from her home had been her gloves, boots and shinobi head band which now rested around her neck. She had decided earlier that day that it was finally time to leave. She had learnt as much as she could here on this island and she needed to start making more money to better equip her for her trip to the grandline. She had a theory that Konoha might be a part of one of the unknown islands on the grandline, so she had decided that her first attempt at getting home would be to travel and explore the grandline. Even if her theory was wrong, she would still be able to find more information there then in foosha village. However for that she needed money and she wasnt making enough working at a bar. She had decided that she would become a bounty hunter. With her skill she would be able to make enough money to at least get to the grandline within a year. She just needed to figure out a way to tell Makino that she was leaving. This would also give her a chance to feel out the powers and ability of people in this world.

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><p>I hope you all liked it. I will be back with a new chapter shortly. Please let me hear your thoughts on what you think so far :) Sorry not much has happened yet but I'll try to get it going soon.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter two_

_I do not own Naruto or Onepiece._

_Just over a year later_

Sakura sat on top of a roof watching the blue sky. A light breeze gently tickled her face as white fluffy clouds slowly rolled over the town. It had been a while since she was able to just relax like this. She had been so busy the last couple of weeks running after bounties to get enough money to pay for a place on a marine ship that was taking passengers into the Grand line later today. She forgot what it had been like to just breathe. Closing her eyes she began to meditate. Breathing in slowly before breathing out again. She repeated this a few times before she was interrupted by yelling on the street below her.

She looked down to see what all the fuss was about when she saw a familiar face in the crowd below her. She couldn't quite pin where she had seen this man's face but it was getting on her nerves. She watched as a man, around his mid to late twenties, quickly stepped into the alley between the house she was sitting on the roof of and the house next to her. Curious, she watched him as he pushed himself against the wall to become one with the shadows. Sakura narrowed her eyes as he slowly pulled something out of his pocket. She tried to lean forward to get a better look at what he had.

She could tell he was a pirate or thieve judging from his appearance and the sword and gun attached to his hip. Not a minute after her closer examination of him did she see a couple of marines run past looking for someone when it suddenly clicked where she had seen him. She quickly looked around to judge how far behind _He _was. Judging from the level of noise she decided he was only a few blocks away. Not wanting to give up on some extra spending money for weapons and her trip later today, Sakura slowly stood up and as quietly as a professional ninja could, she began to walk down the side of the house with chakra infused feet. Stopping about a metre above her next target. She decided she would get this over quickly so she could save her strength if she needed it later on.

Slowly, pulling the Kusanagi out of her belt, she took another step forward before releasing her chakra, dropping next to him and hitting him in the head with the hilt of her blade. Knocking him out successfully, Sakura smirked before quickly pulling papers out from her back pocket and flicking through them. After finding the one she was looking for she put them back into her pocket and waited.

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><p>Captain Smoker sat at his desk going through his paper work for the day. There had been a problem earlier with a couple of pirates who thought they could stop by his town for a stroll. Ha! He took care of that problem quickly and efficiently. Like always. They should know by now that no one gets away in his town. Despite how he looks, Smoker couldn't think of a better way to spend his time than hunting down and beating pirate scum. He didn't really know where his desire to become a marine came from. He was pretty sure it started the day he watched the execution of Gold Roger.<p>

He couldn't stand that man. He remembered perfectly what happened that day. How he walked up to the platform, head held high. He remembered how his last words rang through the air after his life ended. At that moment, he knew there was a change that would happen that he didn't like. He was only a kid back then, but he could still feel it. The buzzing in the air and then the whispering that started in the crowd that turned into shouts. Rodger was an antagonist. And he hated antagonists. He could still remember his last words.

_A small boy no older than twelve ran through the gathering crowd of strangers to get a better view. He looked up at the execution stand as the world's worst criminal walked up to the steps to his death. He held his breath as he took in the way the man held himself. It was almost as if he wasn't afraid of anything. Maybe he had planned to be saved by his crew. He looked through the crowd to see if he could see anyone from the bounty posters. But just as he did, Roger reached the top of the execution platform. Silence fell over the crowd as he began to talk. "If you want my treasure…"  
><em>

The sound of knocking interrupted his thoughts. "Enter!" he said. He watched as his lieutenant Tashigi entered his room to stand at attention. _Tsk! Always so strict. _He thought whilst quietly observing. "Captain Smoker! A pirate ship has docked at the port sir. They consist of two bounties of less than 15,000,000 bellies sir. What would you like us to do?" He thought for a moment before standing up and moving towards the door.

"Tashigi, prepare a squad for me. I'm going hunting." He said as he opened the door. A quiet "yessir" could be heard as he walked off with two lit cigars in his mouth. As he walked to the docks he watched as a number of his marines chased one of the pirates within the city. He decided to follow them. He would never admit it but he made sure to look out for those under his command. He made it one of his responsibilities to make sure that as many of his soldiers came back as possible. He knew of a lot of higher ranking marines didn't care for their foot soldiers but he had honour and pride. And his honour dictated he took care of those under his command. He wasn't naïve thinking he could save everyone, he knew people died. But that didn't mean he would just sit back and watch while it happened.

As smoker followed his marines chasing the stray pirate, he couldn't help but think he was getting old. He started to speed up, turning his legs into smoke. _Nah there's still plenty of life left in me. Heck, if those old admirals can still fight then so can I. _He smirked to himself as the accileration of the hunt began to take over. That was until he heard it.

"You shouldn't smirk like that when your alone captain smoker. It's creepy." And that was all the indication he got before a body was thrown at him from a dark alley way. He turned his whole body to smoke before the unconscious pirate could collide with him. A loud thud was heard behind him. He turned to look at the damage done to see the pirate crumpled on the floor. He turned back to glare at the women walking out of the shadows with laughter in her eyes.

"Do you usually spend your time in dark alleys? Or are you just following me?" He smirked when he saw her small blush at what he implied. She had long pink rosette coloured hair that was tied in a low pony tail that reached her mid-back and bright apple green eyes. She was wearing a white round-neck singlet that dipped a little low over her modest cleavage with a red button up shirt opened over the top that reached to her elbows. Hanging around her neck was her usual red head-band. He slowly looked down taking in her denim mini shorts and black combat boots that reached just below her knees. Like usual her black gloves were on and her long sword was being gripped tightly in her hand.

He looked back up to her face to see that she was now glaring at him. He had met Sakura at the Gold Roger Bar one day when he went there following a rumour about a new pirate in town. Only pirates who thought they could do whatever they like went there. When he entered he saw her sitting at the bar. He walked over to her assuming she was the pirate he was looking for and stood beside her.

_He didn't particularly enjoy hurting women even if they were pirates but his attempt at intimidating her failed as all she did was look up at him and raise an eyebrow before looking back down to her drink and gulping down the remainder. As she put it back down on the table she immediately ordered another two bottles from the bartender Raoul, who immediately complied. He had a look of pity and amusement in his eyes when he looked at her. I thought though that the amusement was more at my situation then hers. _

_When he returned with the sake bottles she slid one in front of him and said, "Marine-san, sit down and have a drink with me." He was a little surprised to say the least. Never had a pirate asked him to drink with him let alone one who looked barley older than fifteen. Then again she didn't look much like a pirate. Well except for the sword at her side. As if reading his mind she said "Don't worry marine-san I'm a bounty hunter. Not a pirate." She assured him. Glancing at her with a look of disbelief she immediately went on the defensive. _

_He remembered it clearly like it was yesterday. She pointed to the ceiling and there hanging above them on the rafters, was the pirate he had been looking for tied up with his mouth duck taped. He glanced back down at her and noticed a small twitch on her lips. She pushed the small bottle to him again. "Are you even old enough to drink?" He asked her, before sitting down next to her. "When are you not old enough to drink?" She replied. "Sakura" she said holding her hand out to shake. "Smoker" he replied. _

The night ended with half of his men drunk off their faces after challenging the pinkette to a drink off. All fifteen of them out-drunk by a girl half their size. The night only ended once Tashigi came by after, trying to find where all her men went missing after she asked them to find their captain.

That was two months ago. Since then she had been coming in dropping off bounty after bounty. They had formed somewhat of a friendship though he knew she was more pirate then marine. "Are you alright Smoker-san? You know they say your memory gets worst with old age." She quipped. His eyebrow twitched before turning to head in the direction of the port. "Tashigi should be in the office if you want to collect the bounty on that one." He tilted his head towards the man on the floor who was now groaning before walking away.

"hai smoker-san." She said while smiling softly.

Sakura smiled softly as she watched captain smoker walk away. He reminded her somewhat of Kakashi-sensei. He was resilient in some ways like him and had an overly dad-like aura. She almost giggled at that. What would kakashi say if he heard that. He'd probably say something like _I'm more of a favourite uncle. _She sighed, before turning and making her way to the marine base and then the arms store to pick up her weapons before leaving.

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><p>Sakura stood with her back to the door waiting for the man to come back with her order. Around 2 months ago she had put in a special order for a specificly made sheath for the Kusanagi as well as extra kunai and shurikan. The latter was the hardest to obtain as well as the most expensive. The production of them was low in the east blue and they took longer to actually restock. Waiting patiently, she walked over to the wall to lean on and closed her eyes. She began to feel out the chakra signatures of everyone in the shop. She could feel the small signatures of the owner and his wife in the back of the store. the wife seemed slightly agitated while the man seemed somewhat excited.<p>

Exiting the back room the man returned with a large grin on his face. He placed the box of Shurikan and Kunai on the bench and moved them to the side before placing a long wrapped up object which she assumed was the sheath in front of her. Before he could reach to undo it, Sakura grabbed the sheath and allowed the wrapping to fall to the floor. She put the sheath back in front of her while she removed the kusanagi from its current sheath which she deposited on the ground, leant against the bench. She stepped away from the man, raised the kusanagi then re-sheathed it in it's new one. She held the long sword in front of her examining its design. It's newest design didn't suit it as much as its first one from when Sasuke had it but it was pretty non the less. Deciding to test it out, Sakura put the sheath into the belt in her shorts, stood in place and drew her sword as the store owner watched.

Happy with her latest purchases, she placed the kusanagi back at her hip, grabbed the boxes from the counter and left the store not before making eye contact with the man currently walking into the store. _Green _was her last thought as she left the shop and made her way to her temporary accomodation to get ready to board a ship to the grand line.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter :) Thank you for reading. We'll get more action and fighting in the next chapter.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

So I want to thank the first 3 people who added my story to their favourites and are following my story. So Thank you so much! I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Also I have gone back to change a couple of things in the first chapters. Just small things like the reward on the bounties. I hope you all continue reading :)

I do not own Naruto or One piece.

Home

Chapter Three

_Blood soaked through her clothes as she ran and ran, passing her comrades who lay unrecognisable on the ground. Bodies were lay at odd angles, faces twisted into looks of pain and fear. She blinked back the tears in her eyes and continued on. Naruto. Naruto. Naruto. It was like a mantra in her head that kept her eyes open and her legs moving. Nothing else mattered. He had to be alive. The war had taken its toll on everyone, but Naruto had always guided them to the light. He was always in front of them leading the way so that the rest could follow. _

_She could see two silhouettes engaged in battle. Sparks were flying as kunai clashed and the clang of metal could be heard in the air. As she drew closer her heart began to beat harder in her chest. No. She looked around the clearing, trying to find any sign of yellow or orange. Not ten metres from her, buried upright under smaller pieces of debris was Naruto. His blonde hair was covered in blood and his face sported dark bruising on the left side of his face while blood leaked from his mouth. "Naruto!" Sprinting to his side but careful not to cause him any further injuries she began to unbury him. Naruto! Tears began to stream down her face. Naruto! Nar…_

"…uto!" She sat upright in her bed. Sweat coated her body and dripped from her nose. Her breathing was shallow and irregular as she clenched the sheet in her hands. She began to slow her breathing until it returned to normal, before laying back down on the mattress. It had been a while since she had dreamed of that day. Usually her dreams were of their younger days together when team seven was still together or of her days with Ino. Closing her eyes sakura waited for darkness to take her. A few minutes later she decides it's futile and gets up and dresses. She grabs her sword and leaves the room.

After quietly climbing the stairs she reaches the cabin leading to the top deck. Opening the door she is hit by the all-consuming scent of salt water. Slowly making her way to the side rails, she leans back against them then slides to the floor. A couple of marines glance at her before looking away after she smiles at them. It has been 56 days since they had departed Lougetown. They were lucky they left when they did as a storm had hit the famous town not a few hours later.

Tilting her head back to lean against the rail, she opened her eyes to look at the stars. It still surprised her that the star patterns were so different to her own lands. A sudden chill ran down her arms. The sunny days and chilly nights had been reminding her of Konoha lately. She remembered when her and Naruto would sit on top of the Hokage Mountain and watch the sunset. The memories brought a soft smile to her face.

"_Ne Sakura-chan," She turned to look at her blonde team mate who she thought of as a brother. "Do you think I'll make a good Hokage?" he looked at her seriously as if trying to judge her thoughts through her facial expressions alone. She was surprised that Naruto had these doubts, especially since he was always so determined. It was unusually to see him so solemn._

"_I mean, you know, I couldn't even bring Sasuke back! How am I supposed to protect everyone when I couldn't even save one friend?!" He turned to look back at the setting sun with a sad expression. It seemed to be like that whenever they spoke about him now. _

"_Naruto" She said softly while looking at him. Originally she was planning on saying something to lighten his spirit but the look in his eyes told her he was seriously doubting himself. Sakura may have been doubtful in her own abilities but she wasn't about to let Naruto doubt his own too. She frowned. He was one of the few people she would follow anywhere no questions asked. _

"_Naruto," she began again. "You are one of the strongest people I know." Looking back at the sunset she continued. "I'm not just talking about power either. Your compassion and kindness towards others despite how people have treated you in the past, your determination and will to grow better to protect the people you care about and the village you love. These are all the things I admire about you. You make people want to follow you Naruto." She smiled at him and looked at him again. _

"_I think you will make a great Hokage." She watched as a couple of tears rolled out of his eyes before he grinned. "Arigatou sakura-chan!" He beamed before crushing her in a hug. As she struggled to breathe she couldn't help but smile. _

Sakura opened her eyes to look at the stars again as tears slipped from her eyes despite her smile. It was memories like these that kept her going. Kept her determined to find a way home. A sudden shout caught her attention. Loud bangs were heard and in the next minute two huge explosions had rocked the ship.

Standing quickly, she ran to the side to see what was going on while many of the marines ran around putting out fires and trying to fill in holes that were now letting water into the side of the ship. She spots the ship that attacked them immediately about 50 metres off the starboard. How they managed to get that close without anyone noticing she didn't know but rushed to help. She ran to the bottom deck of the ship where the leaking had started. Putting the kusanagi in her belt she picks up several large pieces of wood and a hammer, she begins to try to cover the leaks but before she can even finish another explosion rocks the ship knocking her down and multiple gun shots and fighting noises can be heard on the bridge.

She looks to the marines next to her who are furiously hammering nails into the walls of the ship. Deciding that they are okay she decides to go to the bridge and help in the fight. These pirates had some gall to attack a navy ship head on.

Reaching the bridge Sakura is immediately put on the defensive. At least twenty pirates had boarded the marine's ship and were engaged in battle. Another ten seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and split up. Four of them charged at Sakura obviously viewing her as less of a threat.

She stepped to the right as a man slashed his sword downwards at her. Taking advantage of his momentum she steps forward, grabs his out-stretched arm and slings him around into his comrades, knocking them over before throwing him overboard with a loud "shannarou!"

As soon as they are out of the way replacements appear. About ten men brandish their swords all yell while charging her. She jumps high avoiding the first man's blade and kicks him in the head propelling herself into a back flip, skidding to a halt an extra metre away from them. She sends chakra to her feet as she engages the next man, dodging his strikes she sees an opening and sends chakra to her fist hitting him in the stomach. He coughs up blood while flying and colliding into two of the others behind him.

She drops into her defensive position, legs bent and apart facing side along. She brings up her front hand and motions for them to attack her. They begin to circle her. When the first one attacks her she drops low and sweeps him off of his feet. Rolling away as two of them try to strike her she pushes herself onto her hands and kicks her legs out into a splits position using chakra to send another two flying. Having had enough of the hand to hand, she decided to surprise them by jumping up onto the rail using chakra to hold her in place, she makes the hand signs for a water dragon jutsu.

She feels the pull on her chakra as the water forms into a dragon. The looks of fear on the pirates faces make her swell with pride as she unleashes it on them, sweeping them and many others on the bridge over the sides of the ship. She breathes a little in relief but before she can jump off the rail, several bombs hit the boat and she is thrown backwards into the ocean.

* * *

><p>Sakura lay on a piece of wood that probably used to be from some part of the marine ship she was on. Her nose had gone a shade of red from the constant glare of the sun. And her red short shorts hadn't done much for her legs either. As much as Sakura wanted to use her chakra to heal her sun burn, she knew she had to keep it in case more of those monsters showed up.<p>

So far, she had been attacked three times by sea kings. The first one had surprised her as she had completely forgotten about them. After her initial shock wore off she had used her chakra to run on the water towards the beast before launching herself at it and performing a series of kicks that left it unconscious in the water. The next two that had approached her bore similar fates.

That had happened two days ago. Sakura was now lying on her back having rolled over to distribute the suns glare evenly on both sides of her body. Her stomach grumbled loudly. oh what she would give to have some food right now. A soft splash about 30 metres to her right brought her attention away from her thoughts of food. _Looks like it's time to teach some more monsters a lesson. _She slowly stood up on her piece of wood so as not to overbalance herself as she waited for it to appear. As it's head began to rise from the water only ten metres on her left, she couldn't help but begin to wonder if they were edible. After all, a lot of sushi dishes involved raw fish. She didn't know any fire jutsu so she wouldn't be able to cook it. Even if she did know some fire jutsu, she wouldn't want to risk her little raft boat. It was all she had left on her. She didn't even have any of the money she had earned whilst bounty hunting.

What a waste. She groaned as her stomach began making noises again. Determined to at least see what it would taste like, she narrowed her eyes at her next meal. The giant beast looked back at her with its red eyes and began to snarl in warning. She narrowed her eyes further and began to walk on the water towards the sea-king. The sea-king snapped its teeth at her and charged forward. Sakura smirked and launched herself at it whilst propelling herself high enough for it to miss her, she quickly drew her long sword. She pushed her body into a series of spins with her sword, cutting into the neck of the monster. Blood pooled into the surrounding water as she caught a part of her meal. Just as she was raising her sword to cut a piece off another appeared.

Sakura evaded quickly and watched as the newest sea-king caused her almost meal to sink to the bottom of the ocean. She glared at it, her mood turning sour. The sea-king dived back into the water, disappearing from her sight. Sakura could still feel its chakra though and threw herself out of the way before it could eat her. She narrowed her eyes and jumped on its back before it could dive under again. Running up the snake like creature, she brought her chakra laden fist down on its head, cracking its skull.

She jumped onto the water again as she watched it sink with a smirk on her face. _That's what you get for messing with me! shannarou!_

* * *

><p>Lying on her stomach again while on her piece of wood, Sakura debated with herself about whether or not she was acting sane trying to eat that sea-king. As hungry as she was she really shouldn't have risked it. What if she had gotten food poisoning? She definitely would have died out here by her self.<p>

Turning her thoughts to more morose topics, she wondered how everyone was doing back in konoha. She wondered if Tsunade was still Hokage or if Ino had gotten married. And if Hinata had moved on from Naruto after his death. Everyone knew that the eldest Hyuga was in love with Naruto. You would have to be Naruto to not be able to see it. The thought saddened her. She closed her eyes and imagined her home village. She was sitting at Ichiraku Ramen while Naruto was sitting next to her on his fifth bowl of Ramen. Sai had just arrived with a new nickname for Naruto. Laughing she turned to smile at her sensei who had just arrived with his usual book covering his face. Sakura sighed as her heart lurched.

Sitting up to turn over again she caught a glimpse of something in the distance. Squinting with her hands held over her eyes, she tried to make out the shape. She realised she only really had two options. Either it was a boat with people, pirates or marines. Or it was another sea-king. Either way she would finally get food.

As it drew closer, Sakura realised that it was in fact a ship. A pirates ship. Not wanting to scare anyone away with her chakra abilities, she decided to wave to them and call from her bit of wood. All of a sudden she heard shouting back and what looked to be a spear heading her way._ What are they gonna do, hit me with a harpoon._ She thought sarcastically in her head. She was about to jump out of the way, when she realised that it wasn't in fact a spear, it was an arm. Standing still the arm wrapped around her and all of a sudden she was flying through the air towards the ship.

* * *

><p>Luffy was sitting in his favourite spot on the going merry when there was a shout from Usopp in the crows nest that he could see something. Excitement bubbled in his belly. It had been a while since something exciting happened. Standing on Merry's head, he began to squint to see if he could see what it is. It looked like a tree. A tree with pink flowers and arms. How awesome! His eyes turned into stars.<p>

"Nami! Let's go get that tree!" He shouted pointing at the object in the water. "We don't have time to waste Luffy! Vivi needs to be in Alabasta as soon as possible! We don't have time to fool around!" she yelled.

Luffy pouted. He was just curious. Its not often you have moving trees in the ocean. Sudden shouts drew him from his depressed aura. "It's a girl!" Usopp shouted to everyone's surprise. At that Sanji stood and walked to the side to look at the girl. Once confirmed he immediately shouted to turn the ship to "save the fair maiden". Luffy was about to grin when he noticed the look on Nami's face. Thinking it easier then turning the ship around, he bent his knees and shot his arm out to get the girl with a huge grin on his face.

* * *

><p>If Sakura wasn't a shinobi she might have screamed. As she flew towards the ship she braced herself for the impact. Upon landing, she had crashed into the owner of the arm. Knocking them into the mast behind him. With a grunt she untangled her self while she heard several shouts that she didn't quite catch. Soon she was being lifted out of the mess of limbs, well, one really long limb, to stand up straight.<p>

Glancing around she made quick observations of the people around her. A man with blonde hair and were those curly eyebrows? and a cigarette in his mouth stood smiling at her. He was wearing shorts and a black suit with a striped blue shirt under that was unbuttoned a bit low with the arms rolled up. Next to him was a girl with orange hair wearing a brown skirt and a pale yellow singlet. On her left shoulder she seemed to have some sort of tattoo.

Next to her was another girl with long blue hair wearing a long skirt and a long sleeved white shirt. What surprised Sakura the most however was the large duck standing besides the girl. Sakura quickly looked around to take in everything else. A pair of over-sized weights lay carelessly on the bridge and sitting not too far away from them was a man wearing long dark pants with a white t-shirt that opened to reveal a bit of his chest. But most surprising was his hair colour. It was green. _Green. _Just as she thought that someone spoke up from behind her.

"Pink!" Sakura glanced behind her to see a boy probably 18 at most, sitting in a cross-legged position staring at her with a grin on his face. For some reason he looked extremely familiar. Like she had seen him before.

Not wanting to insult anyone, Sakura turned to face everyone to speak. "Thank you for helping me." She said with a bow. Taking this as their queue to start asking their questions Sakura began to get overwhelmed. "Whats your name?" "How old are you?" Where are you from?" "Is your hair colour natural?" "What happened to you?"

Feeling a bit faint Sakura decided to sit down on the floor to answer the questions. Once she had seated however, she noticed something she had missed earlier. There standing behind the girl with orange hair was a small dear. Sakura's thoughts of food immediately resurfaced. Without taking her hungry eyes off of the deer, Sakura began to speak again.

"Hi, My name is Sakura. Im 18 years old from East Blue and yes, my hair colour is natural." Still staring at the small dear that was eyeing her warily she continued on. "Do you often keep live stock on your ship?" She questioned. A silence followed before a squeal was heard from the little deer and loud laughing from the boy sitting next to her.

* * *

><p>Nami and Usopp face palmed while Vivi, Zoro and Sanji all smiled. Well zoro's was more of a smirk. They all began to introduce themselves to Sakura. Her story was pretty incredible. Zoro and Nami were still slightly suspicious of her though. Once the introductions were done, Sakura's stomach grumbled loudly and a blush decorated her face. Sanji led her into the kitchens to make her some food and the rest excluding Usopp who was on watch, followed.<p>

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><p>Hey everyone I hope you liked this chapter :) Hopefully Ill be able to upload another one in a couple of days.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everyone sorry for the wait. I hope you like the fourth chapter

I do not own Naruto or One Piece

Chapter Four

The sound of voices and laughter filled the dining room while everyone ate. Sakura watched on amused by the antics displayed by the straw hat pirates. She had become quite fond of them since they found her two days ago.

Luffy was stealing food from everyone's plates while Usopp tried to stop him. Nami was telling Zoro how she was tripling the interest on his debt owed because she caught him taking fruit from her tangerine trees while Sanji was talking to his beautiful 'Vivi-swannn" and Chopper was laughing at something Usopp said to Luffy.

They really were a strange bunch but they worked. Even Sakura could see how strong their bonds are. She had wondered how it was Luffy could have brought them together like he did but it didn't take her long to realise what it was.

It was almost like everyone gravitated towards Luffy. The same way everyone in Konoha did for Naruto. He had an ability that made people want to follow him. It was his faith in himself but also the faith he showed in his nakama. And the way that he wore his heart on his sleeve. Luffy was a bit more childish than Naruto but Sakura could definitely see the similarities.

Sakura had just finished moulding chakra and meditating at the back of the ship but now stood with everyone on the deck watching the interactions of the crew while smiling softly. Luffy, Usopp and chopper were fishing off the side of the ship while Zoro and Sanji were bickering about something that had happened on an island they visited called Little Garden.

Apparently they had a contest and the winner was supposed to be decided by who brought back the biggest animal to cook. According to Usopp it was quite close and could have possibly been a draw. Of course Sanji believes that his was the biggest while Zoro believes his was. Thus the arguing began. Which had led to insults.

Sakura listened amusedly while insults were given back and forth,

"Shitty Bastard"

"Dork Sanji"

"Marimo head"

"Pervy cook".

At this point Sanji was slowly stalking towards Zoro. "Dumbass swordsman" "idiot eyebrows" It had now escalated so much that Zoro was about to draw one of his swords while Sanji looked about ready to kick him in the head. I watched on amused by their theatrics until Nami came and smacked them both on the head telling them to shut up. The evil aura omitting from her could probably put her own to shame.

The way these scenes played out reminded Sakura of her genin days on team seven. _"Bastard!" "Dead last!" "Urusai!" _echoed in her head as she remembered a similar memory with team seven. She smiled softly and a little sadly. Sasuke and Naruto were always fighting about anything and everything they could. They were what Rock lee had dubbed 'eternal rivals'. Sakura was always forced to play mediator between the two when she wasn't fawning over Sasuke and Kakashi didn't feel like giving a helping hand.

What happened in the end to team seven wasn't entirely her fault. She knew that. And yet, if she had been stronger and thought more seriously about her training then maybe, just maybe, she could have stopped Sasuke from leaving that night. Maybe, she would have been able to protect Naruto from the burden he had to carry.

"Are you alright, Sakura-san?" Sanji asked concerned.

Sakura's gaze returned to the people in front of her who all held expressions of interest, curiosity and concern.

"Hai Sanji-san. I'm fine thank you. Just thinking about old memories." He raised his eyebrows at this as he watched her smile softly.

"Ahh, I remind you of an old boyfriend perhaps?" He questioned hopefully.

Sakura looked surprised and laughed bitterly. "I would hope not. The last person I ever loved tried to kill me numerous times." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. An awkward silence settled over the group. Usopp who had overheard the conversation wanted to question her about her choice in men when Zoro cut him off, obviously sensing her mood decided to change the direction of the conversation.

"So, do you actually know how to use that sword or is it just there for show?" He teased lightly. Grateful for the topic change, Sakura had on her face the expression of someone who had just been insulted. "Would you like to find out?" She questioned. He grinned in reply and told her to follow him.

Standing on the front deck with the members of the Strawhats keenly watching them, Sakura observed the man standing in front of her. His white shirt clung to him loosely, defining his chest. His arms were well muscled from extensive training as were his legs. He held his sword in front of himself in both hands as he stood observing her.

Sakura took in her surroundings as any shinobi or warrior is taught to do. Her space was limited on the ship which would likely restrict her movements. She wasn't planning on using her chakra and instead using her speed to parry him and then wait for an opening to strike him.

"Oi! Oi! Hurry up!" Yelled Luffy excitedly waiting for the fight to start. Well no one ever said he was a patient boy.

"Okay little girl." Zoro smirked as he saw a vein on her head throb in anger. "How 'bout we get this started?" He said.

The two stood equally still in concentration, waiting for the first person to make their move. Sakura had enough and charged forward. Faster than she thought he was possible of, Zoro moved in and parried her block then quickly slashed down at her to which she was forced to block. They continued like this for a while, feeling each other's power level out.

"Oi Marimo! Don't hurt my beautiful Sakura-san!" Sanji angrily yelled. To which he was hit by Nami saying something about believing women were weaker than men.

Sakura was blocking one of Zoro's strikes when she smirked and decided that it was time to add a little something special to her blocks and attacks. She smirked "let's start taking this seriously, shall we Zoro-san?"

* * *

><p>Zoro was quite impressed by the level of kenjutsu that Sakura showed with her sword. He had started out at a lower level to see where she stood. Not surprisingly, she was able to keep up with him quite well. After that he had started attacking her harder and faster. To which she was still easily keeping up with him.<p>

Zoro had just finished striking at her when their blades connected. He looked at her face and saw her smirk before she said "let's start taking this seriously, shall we Zoro-san?" As she said that he watched as she strengthened her stance and pushed her sword into his further, effectively pushing him back then striking at him quickly.

When she next attacked him her speed had increased significantly and she was able to get closer to him than he was comfortable with. Deciding that he would start to take this seriously he strengthened his own stance and attacked her with full force. He dodged her next strike with a strength and speed that he only showed enemies. If she wanted him to fight seriously then he wouldn't hold back. As he blocked her next attack, he increased the strength in his arms, not giving her any Leigh way.

Grinning now as he fought her, he slashed side ways to which she bent over. He took this opportunity to unbalance her by next striking down. However, before he could apply his strike she leant back on her hands kicking one of her legs out at his head to which he was just able to dodge by taking an unsteady step backwards. By the time he was in position to attack her again she was up and ready to defend.

The fight continued until Zoro was able to target an opening she had accidentally left on her right side. As soon as his sword was positioned in front of her gut, the spar stopped and she smiled. He wiped the sweat off his brow as he smirked at her.

"Looks like you do know how to use a sword." To which she smiled. "yeh, not as good as my fists though." She smiled, before she told him to sit down so she could heal the small cuts she had left on him.

Zoro sat with his shirt off as he watched the pink haired girl heal the small cuts that she had given him during their spar. He watched as a green light enveloped some of her fingers and she traced the small red lines that now marred a couple of places on his body. The feeling was weird at first but then started to have a cooling feel, almost as if he had an ice pack on his arm.

He wouldn't have minded letting them heal naturally, but he had been curious about what she was going to do and couldn't help but think about what she had said after their fight. '_Not as good as her fists' huh. What the hell is that supposed to mean? She's able to heal this effectively, stand against him in a one on one sword fight and apparently she's even better in hand to hand. Just who is this woman? _

He was brought out of his thoughts by the pink haired woman who had started questioning him about where he learned to fight and when he began. To which he answered the truth to most questions. When there were questions he didn't want to answer she didn't push him.

* * *

><p>The straw hats watched on as Sakura fought then healed Zoro. They were amazed by her abilities and Sanji was somewhat jealous that Zoro was able to get that close to her. <em>Maybe if I get hurt she'll heal me too?<em> He thought. Nami asked Vivi if she had ever heard of anyone with the ability to heal like Sakura, to which she responded negatively.

"I have never seen such an ability. Maybe it's a devil fruit power?"

Looking on excitedly Luffy and Chopper ran over to the pair as they both stood up.

"Ne! Ne! Sakura! What was that thing you were doing?!" Luffy practically yelled at her. "It's from using my chakra." She responded simply. Not wanting to go into too much detail. "Ahh… So it's a mystery power!" Luffy concluded to which she sweat dropped. "Yeh, you could say that…" she trailed off.

Nami and Usopp who had stood nearby face palmed when they heard what their captain had named Sakura's power. _Things never change._ They both thought.

* * *

><p>Later that morning the crew and Sakura were doing their own thing. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were sitting on the rail of the Merry fishing out of boredom again while Zoro was training. Sanji had just went inside to see if there was anything edible while Nami Vivi and Sakura were playing a game of cards. Sakura had missed just sitting around and having someone to talk to about random things. Especially when she started living with Makino. It had become routine to talk about one's day and things that had happened that day.<p>

Talking to Nami and Vivi was like a breath of fresh air after living by herself for over a year and she was glad that they had become such good friends despite having only known each other for a couple of days. Nami was telling Sakura about how they travelled over reverse mountain. She seemed to have great navigating abilities if this was anything to go by. Her and Vivi did seem like the smartest out of the crew.

Chopper kept stealing glances in Sakura's direction. She had been waiting for him for a couple of hours to come ask her what was on his mind. Just as he looked like he might come over to say something to her Luffy yelled that he had caught something.

When Sakura looked at what he had caught in the heated water she couldn't help but be weirded out. She had seen Kabuki before but never any dressed like this.

He had introduced himself as Bon Kurei. What she found most interesting about him was his devil fruit powers. They were so similar to a transformation jutsu but it felt somewhat different. She couldn't figure it out. She watched as he made copies of each of them before pretending to be them. She notice Vivi stiffen at a certain person he became but paid it no mind. Just as fast as he was there, his crew had come to collect him.

Sakura oblivious to the way Vivi was analysing her Sakura was about to walk back to sit down when Vivi asked "Sakura, what were your intentions when you entered the Grandline?"

Everyone stopped and listened to what was going on. Sakura noticed the way everyone was focussed on her face, especially Vivi. "I was on my way home." She replied with the half truth.

"I thought you were from East Blue?" Usopp questioned curiously.

"It's true that I was coming from East Blue but it's not my home." This caught everyone's attention. "I'm from an Island on either the grand line or new world and I'm trying to find my way back." She replied honestly.

They quieted at this until Sanji spoke. "Sakura-san where exactly are you from? And how did you manage to get lost?"

Sakura smiled sadly as she said "Konoha is the name of the Village I'm from. In the… Island I'm from, there was a war going on between the five major villages and an evil organization." She paused collecting her thoughts. Quietly deciding what to tell them and what not to.

"Where my people are from, each have different unique abilities similar to a devil fruit users. One of those abilities is the power to transport people to different places. Unfortunately, while I was fighting one of these people I was sent to the East Blue. And now, well, I'm just trying to find a way to get home." She finished. Sakura was never a good liar and from the way she spoke even she could tell that it wasn't all the story.

They all looked at her and she could see it in their eyes that they were deciding whether to trust her. She had given most of them no reason to distrust her, but she knew that her story sounded somewhat unbelievable. Sakura searched all of their faces before her eyes landed on one in particular. Luffy was sitting on the riling of the ship asleep. Every time he breathed out a huge bubble would come out of his nose.

Sakura couldn't help the giggle that came out despite the serious atmosphere. They all turned to see what she was laughing at. Nami got angry and hit her captain in the head at the same time as Sanji. Just then Vivi turned to face her and spoke.

"Sakura-san, I haven't known you long but I can tell you're a good and honest person. In fact, I consider you a friend. I know you aren't telling us all of your story and I don't know your reasons but I will trust you with mine." She smiled at Sakura and then recounted her story.

In all honesty, it was pretty normal for Sakura. An evil pirate trying to take over a desert kingdom. _Im not sure why you would want to do that. Maybe there's another motive. _She thought to herself. She'd ask Vivi about it later. After all, every Village, Land or Government had their own secrets. Sakura looked at Vivi again as she explained the face that Bon Kurei was wearing was in fact her father's. And that he was likely working for Crocodile and Baroque works.

After explaining this, Vivi looked at Sakura again and asked her what her plans were once the docked in Alabaster. However, before she could reply Luffy had woken up and declared,

"She's going to join our crew!" to everyone. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise as he announced this. She didn't remember him ever asking her something like this. Suddenly Nami and Usopp were hitting Luffy in the back of the head again and telling him to not just ask people on a whim.

Sakura realised this was just a Luffy thing. And laughed.

"My plan had been to come to the Grand line and find out as much as I could from anyone I could, to get a lead on which way to go." She replied honestly. "However, after hearing Vivi's story I couldn't just abandon you to fight alone. So if you don't mind, I would like to help you." She smiled at Vivi who smiled back but said, "I couldn't possibly ask you to do this for me Sakura, you'd be going against one of the seven war lords. This could make you a pirate and you may even get a bounty on your head. You might not even be accepted back to your village because of it!" She said.

Sakura looked at her and thought for a moment. her own village definitely wouldn't care too much. Even though she might be thought of as a pirate she didn't really care. Just like with Shinobi, Sakura had come to understand that their were good pirates and bad pirates so she didn't really mind.

She shrugged before saying, "A wise person, who I respected greatly said to me 'Those who follow the rules are scum, but those who abandon their nakama, are worse than scum'." She looked at Vivi before saying with a new determination in her eyes "Vivi, I think of you as a friend too so I will help you." Then smiled. Everyone smiled and nodded in agreement.

After hearing this Vivi had tears in her eyes and shakily said "Thank you all! Sakura, once we save everyone I'll try to get permission for you to enter our library in the palace so that you can look for any information we have there. Alabaster is one of the oldest kingdoms so we have a lot of information. I can't promise you'll find anything specific about the location of your island though."

Sakura said her thanks to Vivi and that she appreciated the thought. It would only be a couple of days until they reached the coastal town of Nanohana.

* * *

><p>Docking at Nanohana after four days of travelling with the straw hats had made Sakura the happiest she'd been in a while. The first day she had met the straw hats was the last day she had actually eaten. Apparently they had run out of food that was stocked on the ship. Sakura took note that they usually ate any sea creature they came across unless it talked, however, having not come across any creatures for a while had shortened their food supply. The first thing Luffy had done when they docked was go to find food, leaving the rest of them behind to figure out a plan.<p>

The Strawhats plus Sakura had all agreed that the first thing they'd do is go to get food and supplies for the trip. While sitting around waiting for Luffy to come back to the group Sakura couldn't help but notice the amount of Marines that had increased in the town. They were sitting on the outskirts of the town eating when Sanji pulled out clothes for everyone to change into. Saying that it was for disguising themselves.

Sakura looked at the outfit she held in her hands. It consisted of two pieces of clothing. The top half consisted of a red bikini with long flowing material off the sides and a long white skirt was the other bottom half. It was a dancers out-fit. Sakura felt self conscious for the first time in a while. Her hair was up in its usual ponytail that still managed to reached her lower back.

She turned to look at the other girls before turning to look at herself and blushed. Nami and Vivi filled out their tops fine but compared to them Sakura was just modest. Ignoring the slight pang of jealousy she usually got when she saw girls with assets, Hinata and Ino being the main perpetrators, she looked up to see if Luffy was coming yet.

Vivi was just talking about what her plans were when a commotion caught hers and Zoro's attention. As they noticed the sudden increase in Marines running through the area Zoro grabbed Vivi and pulled her behind their wall. Zoro and Sakura came out to look at what was going on when they saw a familiar figure.

Luffy suddenly called "Hey Zoro! Sakura!" They turned to look at each other then turned around and grabbed everything to run. Sakura could hear Zoro shout "Lose them before you lead them to us baka!" Sakura couldn't help but agree more. Everyone grabbed a couple of bags as they started to run away with Luffy following them. They were about to reach the end of the street when Sakura turned and noticed how close they were to the marines.

She threw the stuff she was carrying to Zoro and turned to get rid of the marines behind Luffy. She turned and starting running back towards the marines. As soon as she past Luffy, She sent chakra to her hand that she folded into a fist and punched the ground releasing her chakra at the same time.

Sakura's control of her punches had gotten better since she started training in East Blue. She watched as the ground trembled below their feet before erupting into a series of high jagged rocks and crevices. Sakura looked up to see the out come of her move only to see her old marine friend.

He stood there impassive as he watched what she would do. Sakura stared at him in shock then grinned and said "Smoker-san it's been a while." He took in the situation then said "I knew you'd become a pirate." He gathered his smoke to use his 'white blow' attack on her but before he could, a man only wearing shorts and a hat dropped out of the sky in front of her and used a fire attack.

Looking at his back Sakura took in the tattoo that was the symbol of one of the strongest pirate crews in the world. The white-beard pirates. Before she could question him about it he turned around and met her gaze then turned to look at Luffy who was still standing there.

"I'll take care of this, you guys go on a head." He said. "Okay." Luffy responded immediately before grabbing Sakura's arm and taking off with her towards the Going Merry to meet up with everyone else. "Luffy, who was that?" She asked. "That was my older brother!" He beamed. "His name is Ace!"

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><p>Hey everyone I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) Please review I'd love to hear your opinions and advice on how I could make this story better :) Also I've labelled this as a romance but I still haven't fully decided on who the pairing will be so if you have any ideas let me know what you think. Hopefully Ill be able to update again by the end of the week. Thanks for reading!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everyone! It's been a while. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for all of your feedback, you guys keep me writing!

I do not own Naruto or One Piece.

Chapter Five

Ace watched as his little brother grabbed the hand of his Nakama before turning around and bolting from the scene. The display of strength that the pink haired girl had just shown was incredible. He wondered if it was the power of a devil fruit. He knew then that his brother was in good hands. He turned around to face his opponents. The ground between them looked as if someone had just dropped a bomb there. The destructive fists of the pink haired women combined with the aftermath of his flames made this place look like hell.

Ace's attention was drawn back to Smoker as he prepared to attack him. As smoker raised his arm to send a thick wall of smoke against him, Ace raised his own arm and prepared his own wall of fire. The two attacks met in the middle and expanded upwards blocking off both combatants from each other. Knowing that the wall of fire and smoke would last a while yet, Ace used that moment to escape from the marines.

Arriving at the port, Ace ran to his smaller boat hoping to catch Luffy before he got too far ahead of him. Using his flame-flame fruit to speed the acceleration of his boat he immediately departed. The flag that was raised at full mast blew proudly in the wind as the small boat sped across the Que. Spotting the ship with the flag of a skeleton skull with a straw hat, Ace grinned. It was just so Luffy.

As he began to slow his boat and pull over next to the Straw Hat's ship, Ace listened to the conversation and smirked. "Yeah I would always get my assed kicked but I could beat him now!" He couldn't help but make his entrance. He jumped from his boat mid-sentence. "Just who…" And landed on the railing where Luffy was sitting before he kicked him off causing Luffy to fall flat on his face. "…can you beat?" He grinned at his little brother.

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><p><em>Sakura stood in the living room brushing dust off of the windows as part of their new year's cleaning. She had only been staying with Makino for a couple of months now and was getting used to living in this village. <em>

_Finishing off the windows she went to move on to the fire place when her duster knocked one of the photos on the window ceil off. She picked up the cracked photo frame and was surprised to see three little boys together grinning. Just looking at the picture you could see the bond between the boys. _

_The one on the right had blonde hair and blue eyes and wore a blue coat over pants and had a ridiculously big hat on his head. He looked as if he were about to hit the kid in the middle who was grinning but looked like he had a mouth full of food. It was quite the feat. He had dark hair and a twinkle in his eyes that told of how innocent he was. The one on the left had a scowl on his face and was standing with his arms crossed. He had longer hair then the other boys and hi had a light sprinkle of freckles over his nose and cheeks. As she was about to put down the picture the door opened behind her._

_Makino walked in holding a large bag of groceries. She smiled softly when she saw the picture Sakura had been looking at. She went on to tell her about the kids in the photo. Their names were Sabo, Luffy and Ace. Apparently they were quite the trouble makers when they were younger. Sabo was killed not long after the photo was taken but Luffy and Ace were now pirates. Apparently it had been their dream to roam the seas free. Luffy, however had planned on becoming King of the Pirates. None of them were related but they treated each other as brothers._

_Sakura smiled softly at the picture again and put it down. It reminded her of her own genin picture with two scowling boys and a smiling girl. Of course, it was always Naruto who had the biggest dream though. _

Sakura was brought back out of her memories by a cry of "ACE!" Luffy who had just fell to the floor was now standing with his hands on his hips grinning at his older brother. "Yo. Thanks everyone for taking care of my brother." He bowed his head slightly. "No kidding" Sakura heard Usopp mutter under his breath.

"Luffy, you haven't changed." Ace grinned. He was standing and leaning his back on the railing behind him.

As Sakura payed closer attention, she could see the resemblance between these two men and the two boys in the picture. She looked at Ace and for the first time noticed his state of undress. Her gaze slowly travelled down to look at his abs before immediately returning to his face to notice he was looking at her. Sakura blushed.

She turned her head to address Luffy for the first time since remembering Makino's message.

_Sakura was getting ready to leave when Makino-san, the Mayor and Chiken-san had come down to see her off. "Sakura-chan! If you ever meet Luffy or Ace tell them that I said 'Hi and to stay out of trouble' okay!?" She gave a small nod and smile to Makino before jumping into her small boat. "Makino-san, Thank you for everything until now." Makino smiled brightly and gave her a small wave and "Good luck finding your home." Before Sakura departed._

"Ah, I forgot to tell you Luffy, but before I left East Blue I had been staying in Foosha village with Makino-san. She said to say 'Hi and to stay out of trouble' to both you and Ace-san." Sakura looked at them both who were now looking at her.

"Ehhh! You met Makino-nee and never told me?!" Luffy pouted. Ace just grinned. "And how is Makino-san doing..uh..eh…?" "Sakura" She supplied. "Sakura-san?"

Sakura looked at Ace then back up at Luffy. "She was doing well when I left her. That was around 2 years ago now." She turned to Luffy again. "Sorry Luffy, I kind of forgot about her message. After all, what were the chances of actually meeting you guys." Guilt was laced in her words as she replied honestly.

"maa, maa, It's alright Sakura-san." Ace said for both him and Luffy. The rest of the Straw Hats stood around observing the interactions between the three. They watched as Luffy brightened exceptionally fast and turned towards his brother. "So, what are you doing here Ace?" He asked.

"Eh, you didn't get my message in Drum island?" he replied. "Drum?" Luffy responded while picking his nose with his pinky. "Oh never mind. No biggie." Ace said. "Anyways, I'm here for a little task and thought I'd try to meet up with you?"

Ace looked at his brother before asking "What task?" Ace's expression turned grim. Sakura watched as his eyes darkened in a similar way to a certain Uchiha she knew. "I'm looking for someone who committed one of the worst acts a pirate can in the White Beard Pirate's crew." He paused. "Killing a fellow crew member."

Everyone's expressions varied form shocked to angry to sad. Sakura's eyes saddened in understanding. Vivi interrupted everyone's quiet contemplations by asking Ace where he was heading. "Well there was a rumour that the man I'm looking for has been causing trouble in and around Yuba."

Vivi's eyes widened and told him how that was their first destination to which Luffy asked Ace to join them. Accepting Luffy's offer, everyone was about to do their own thing until everyone took notice of seven ships closing in on them.

Ace sighed before turning around and jumping on the railing of the ship again. "I'll deal with these guys before we go." He said then jumped into his small boat and began off towards the larger ships. "What! Is he crazy?" She heard Usopp say. Luffy just laughed and said that Ace was strong. Sakura watched in curiosity. Waiting to see just how strong the man really was. She knew that Ace was a member of one of the strongest Pirate Crews in the world, so she was looking forward to seeing how he fought.

Before she could even speculate, Ace drew near the ship and all of a sudden jumped off of his small boat using his flame-flame devil fruit powers thrusting him into the air. Sakura took notice of how the smaller boat that had been carrying him had submerged under the water and came out the other side as Ace landed. The next thing she noticed was the heat of the fire that exploded from Ace's fist as he destroyed all seven ships with one move.

The only other time Sakura had felt heat like this was when the Shinobi allied forces had been fighting Madara Uchiha. She looked on with awe along with the rest of the crew. Luffy just grinned as Ace returned. Zoro threw some rope to Ace to tie his small boat to the Going Merry before they departed to the coast again so that they could travel to Yuba.

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><p>With the addition of Ace to the crew everyone's mood had improved since before. <em>Well, the fact that they had food again probably contributed it too. <em>Sakura thought with humour to herself as she sat down with everyone to enjoy dinner. Luffy and Usopp were fighting over a piece of meat while Chopper was questioning Ace about the places he and his crew had visited in the Grand line. Vivi was listening with interest while Nami bathed in Sanji's attention and Zoro sat quietly snickering every now and then when something funny happened or to insult Sanji.

Sakura smiled to herself as she soaked in this warm feeling. It was as if her Shinobi family were together having dinner. She had realised that the Straw Hats were like her own family in Konoha. They laughed together, cried together and fought together. Sakura couldn't help the frown that came to her face. She wanted to protect them but she knew she also had to return home to make sure everyone else was alright before she could move on. She had yet to find any closure for all of the things that happened during the war.

She hadn't realised everyone had left until she heard the clearing of a throat. Sakura turned to look around the room and only noticed Sanji and Ace left. Sanji smiled at her and asked her if she wanted more tea. Sakura looked at her cup and realised it was empty. "It's alright Sanji-san, if you don't mind I'll make it myself. And don't worry, I'll clean up after myself." Sanji just nodded and said "Hai Sakura-san. Good night then." He left the room but not before looking one last time at the couple.

Sakura stood to make herself a cup of tea. "Would you like some tea Ace-san?" She asked. "Ace is fine Sakura-san. And No I'm fine thanks." He smiled. Sakura continued making her tea in the kitchen. Ace studied her as she moved around the kitchen with efficiency. She was obviously used to being in there. As she came back and sat down, Sakura tried to think of something to say.

"So how lo…"

"So whe…"

They started at the same time. Ace chuckled, amused while Sakura smiled a little. "You go first." Ace insisted. "I was going to ask you when you first got your devil fruit powers…" Sakura said. Ace watched as she stirred her tea slowly. "Around 2 years ago. I had just started my own pirate crew the spade pirates." He had a faraway look in his eyes. "It wasn't long after that that me and my crew joined the Whitebeard pirates." He smiled again, softly this time.

"What is Whitebeard like? I hear he's one of the strongest pirates on the Grand line but that's about all I've heard about him." Sakura questioned curiously. "Hmm, Oyaji is… well he's like a father to all of us. Above all, he's a strong, respected pirate that cares for his nakama. We're like a family. I respect him so much I want to help him become the next Pirate King." Ace answered honestly. Sakura contemplated what to say next.

Whitebeard sounded like a leader should. It was obvious from the respect that was in Ace's eyes that Whitebeard was a great leader that has probably earned the trust and respect of all of his crew and others as well. Green eyes met dark grey as Sakura said, "He sounds like one hell of a pirate." before drinking some of her tea. "Yeh he is." Ace said. He looked at her again and smiled,

"Thank you for looking after Luffy, I know he's quite a handful." Sakura just looked at Ace and grinned. "Oh I'm not actually part of the crew, though I can tell he is and I've only been here a few days." Ace raised an eye brow and Sakura just giggled. "Then how did you meet Luffy?" Sakura relayed the story of how she met the Straw hat Pirates. How her trip into the Grand line had started and how the Straw hats had found her. Ace laughed at this. "Luffy has always done things before thinking." Ace had a reminiscent look in his eyes that softened considerably.

Sakura had just finished her tea when Ace put his elbow on the table to cradle his chin in his hand.  
>"So… Sakura-san, what devil fruit did you eat to get your powers?" Sakura was confused a second before she realised he was talking about her chakra enhanced strength.<p>

"Just Sakura, Ace." She smiled before continuing. "My powers are actually normal for people from my home." Ace looked interested. To think the power she had was a natural ability and there was a whole island of them. He was surprised that the World Government hadn't got their hands on them yet.

"So everyone on your island has super strength?" Ace asked. Sakura giggled while thinking about what the Shinobi nations would be like if everyone had super strength, Naruto liked to call it that as well. "You misunderstand Ace. My powers are created from how I use the chakra within my body. Everyone is able to use it differently. But of course there are normal civilians too." Ace watched her shrug it off as if it was nothing.

"So what other powers do people have?" Sakura looked at him and said. "Well a lot of powers are similar to the devil fruit powers you guys have like your fire but we don't have to worry about drowning. Though I must say, I've never met anyone who is able to turn to rubber like Luffy. Most of our abilities are nature based such as fire, water and lightning abilities. People can even use more than one of these nature types."

Ace looked at her amazed as she brought her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Though a big difference between our people and devil fruit users is the fact that our powers are limited by how much chakra we have and our stamina levels also plays a part."

Ace was unsure what to say. "So what made you move to East Blue then?" He noticed as Sakura's eyes saddened. He was starting to wish that he had never asked. "Certain things happened and I ended up there. I'm actually trying to find a way back…" _Heck I'm not even sure the Shinobi nations is part of the Grand line or New World. _

Ace noticed the depressing aura that surrounded hersuddenly and sweat dropped down his forehead. It was obviously a very touchy subject for her. Trying to cheer her in anyway he said the first thing that came to his mind. "Well if you ever need any help getting home let me know and I'll see what I can find out from Oyaji." Sakura looked up surprised and then smiled at him before replying with a quiet. "Thank you." Then looked up cockily. "I'll hold you to that!" and winked at him. To which he blushed and she laughed.

She hadn't laughed this much in a long time. After that they talked about Ace's travels in the Grand line. He told her a little about the Whitebeard pirates. And Sakura surprisingly found herself telling him a little bit about the people she had left behind in Konoha. However, after realising they had been talking for a little too long they had called it a night and parted to go to sleep. They had a long journey a head of them.

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><p>After lowering the anchor of the Going Merry on the Sandora river not far from Erumalu, the straw hats departed for their journey to the city of Yuba. They had planned to pass through Erumalu then continue on for two to three days to Yuba.<p>

The sun was still high in the sky when Vivi informed everyone that they were only an hour or so away. Sakura looked around at everyone to see how they were coping. Vivi and Nami had put a long coat over their shoulders to protect their exposed skin from the harsh rays of the sun. While Sakura had also found a long red and white coat to put on, she had also opted to change out of her dancers clothing for more appropriate clothing that allowed her to move better without worrying that she'll accidently flash someone if she were to fight.

Vivi was leading the way next to Nami, Luffy and Chopper. Usopp was walking with Ace and Sanji followed by Zoro and then Sakura bringing up the back. Sakura watched as Chopper turned to look at her before quickly looking away. Sakura couldn't help but smile at how cute he was acting. Everyone noticed as Chopper slowly started to drop back to walk with Sakura.

Sakura looked down at the little reindeer and smiled, hoping to encourage him to ask what he's wanted for the last couple of days.

"Ne Sakura-san, I was wondering about the power you used to heal Zoro the other day…" Chopper trailed off. Sakura looked down at him thinking of the best way to explain it. She didn't want to get his hopes up because she knew how much he wanted to become a great doctor that could heal any disease and illness. Sakura thought his dream was admirable and after getting to know the little guy, she had come to believe that he may just one day be able to do so.

Deciding to use an academy explanation on chakra before explaining it fully to him. She began by telling him about chakra and about its different uses. She then went on to describe how she could use it to mend bones and internal and external injuries. "You could also use chakra to extract poisons from the blood stream." She finished.

He was looking at her with a new sparkle in his eyes. "So you can heal anything then?" He asked her excitedly. Sakura looked down at him a little sadly. "No, not everything Chopper-kun. There are many incurable diseases. And don't forget that even if you heal someone who's bleeding to death you can't guarantee that they will survive the blood loss or if they have a head injury, if they won't wake up a vegetable." She looked down to see that he was taking in her every word. He then looked at her seriously and asked politely but with full determination "Sakura-san will you please teach me?!"

Sakura looked down at him sadly. She knew that he would eventually ask her that question. "Chopper… I'm sorry but even if I began to try to teach you it would be impossible." At his crestfallen expression Sakura felt her heart give way a little. "We could try to see if you're able to use chakra but considering you haven't been trained since a young age it would be extremely difficult, not to mention that you need extreme chakra control to even be able to heal effectively…" Sakura trailed off. She looked at little chopper and saw a small pinch of hope in his eyes. She sighed. _This isn't going to end well._ She thought to herself.

Sakura couldn't get over the look in his eyes though. The determination reminded her of her own when she had gone to ask Tsunade to apprentice her. Looking back down at Chopper she kneeled on the ground and said to him "Chopper, I'm sorry it is very unlikely you'll be able to use your chakra however I am willing to teach you about different types of poisons and tell you any information health related to what I do know. Just take into account that this will likely be limited to the diseases and problems on my own island."

Sakura had studied a little about the plants and poisons in East Blue and the Grand line while she was in Foosha village but their resources were very limited. Having access to Choppers medical books on Merry has been very informing too. The plants and creatures were so different to the ones found in her own land she felt like a novice healer again.

Chopper looked at her smiling a little sadly but that turned to determination as she spoke. "Hai Thank you Sakura-san!" He exclaimed excitedly. Sakura went to say something to him but was interrupted by Vivi announcing that they had arrived.

Sakura looked around at Erumalu. She wasn't expecting a ruined town. They slowly walked through the desert town. Sakura observed how the buildings had sunken under sand, the tall palm trees were dead and that the town was fully deserted. She wondered what had happened for a town to end up this way. Especially one known as The City of Green. Vivi turned to face them all and said seriously,

"Looking at this town, you can understand how much the Baraque works organisation has done to this country. And just how much the people of Alabasta are suffering."

Looking at Vivi, Sakura could see how much she cared about the people of her country. As they continued to walk through the town, Luffy was the first to announce his thoughts about the place.

"Wow, there really is nothing here!" He said. Vivi replied, "Yeh it is, even before its collapse it used to be a city full of green plants and a lively atmosphere. Even though it barely rained in this region, the town would prosper. But it's been three years since any rain has fallen anywhere throughout the entire kingdom."

The surprised gasps could be heard coming from everyone except Ace, Zoro and Sakura. _That was the problem with Desert kingdoms_. Sakura thought. Unless they had another source of water besides rain, then they were likely to perish. But that's what the river would be for. Just as Sakura thought this Zoro had reached a similar conclusion and asked about it.

"But what about the river that we sailed upstream on?" he questioned. Usopp added "Yeh, couldn't you just draw water from the river?" Vivi's eyes saddened.

"The answer to that question lies ahead." She said quietly. As they continued to walk through the town Vivi began to explain the situation to everyone. Apparently for a while it hadn't rained anywhere but in one place and that was Alubarna, where the royal palace was situated.

"People called it the king's miracle." She told them. "Until the day an incident happened."

Apparently one day a cart was taking goods to the palace when it was overturned and the bags holding the goods were accidently ripped open. In the bags was a product known as 'Dance powder'. According to Nami it artificially forces rain to be produced which is very bad for Desert kingdoms as it had a side-effect of stealing rain from the surrounding areas. She then went on to explain how there was a ban on the use of dance powder because of the break out in wars that have occurred in the past because of it.

"The amount of Dance powder that was brought through our port and the fact that it was being sent to the palace, was enough to cause the people to lose faith in my father. Especially with the evidence being the fact that it didn't rain anywhere else in the kingdom." Vivi's eyes clouded with memories from the past.

"WHAT THE HELL VIVI! YOUR FATHER IS EVIL!" Luffy yelled pointing at Vivi. Sakura just rolled her eyes as she watched Sanji forcefully explain how Vivi's father was set up. Having reached a road Sanji asked where they were. Vivi explained that it was the canal that drew water from the river that was mysteriously destroyed and became no longer capable of sustaining its water supply. This caused suspicion in the king and people began to migrate to other cities in search of water and food. One by one as the cities became unsustainable to hold the population, they were all deserted and fell to ruin.

After hearing this everyone stopped to listen to Vivi. _The people who were capable of doing this were scary to be able to get away with it_. Sakura thought. They must really strong but then a thought from earlier began to bug her. _Why? What would someone want with a desert kingdom that has no water? Unless it's personal? _Sakura thought to herself.

A strong wind blew through the ruined town as Vivi finished her story. The sound of the wind echoed off the walls of the ruins in an angry screech almost as if the people who had died in the town were crying. Sakura stood strong as the strong wind whipped her coat around her legs and she narrowed her eyes.

"What are those? People's voices?" Nami asked as they turned to look at the town. They all looked around expecting someone to jump out and attack them. Before Ace spoke confidently.

"Nah, it just the wind." Luffy looked at him and said "It sounded like people's voices." "I can hear them all around us." Usopp said in a shaky voice. "Ne what'd we do? Onii-san?" Ace's face turned serious. "It's nothing serious."

Sakura spoke up then, reassuring them. "The winds are passing through the town and reverberating off the ruins." She hadn't noticed Ace come to stand next to her earlier and had been surprised when he spoke.

"It's the city of Erumalu, The city of Erumalu is crying." Vivi said sadly. While everyone looked on while listening to the last whispers of the dying town. A sudden sand twister crashed into them, blowing sand in their faces and whipping their loose coats back and forth around them. Sakura and Ace leaned closer together for support against the raging wind. Sakura opened her eyes, a habit reinforced by Tsunade during her training to never close her eyes, and freaked out a little when she saw what looked like a person in the wind as a sound chimed through the area.

She listened to everyone talk about the voices when she felt Ace drop his hand from her back. She looked up at him and their eyes met. She almost blushed but Luffy called their attention when he saw something laying on the ground. Hopeful voices were heard as they ran to the body. Sakura could already tell that even if there was a body it would likely be dead. Not much survived in the desert.

When she saw Luffy and Vivi stop she knew she had been right. Vivi was kneeling on the ground next to a skeleton. She gently touched the head of the skeleton. Sakura watched her sadly as she asked no one in particular,

"What have my father and the people of this kingdom ever done to deserve this?" She paused. "Taking the lives of the people who have struggled against nature to live in this desert. Why? What right does he have to do this?" Sakura could see her shoulders trembling as her voice shook. "Why?!" She cried. All they could do was look on as Vivi let her feelings of frustration out.

"He acts like a hero of the people as a Shichibukai! And no one realises that he is deceiving this kingdom! She says angrily. Sakura watched as Luffy, Sanji and Usopp began walking away.

"I will never fogive that man!" Vivi yelled as she cried.

Sakura watched as the ruins of the city of green were destroyed by Luffy, Sanji and Usopp. She could here Zoro say "Geez, What kids." While Ace just looked amused. She watched as he bent down and began to dig a hole to bury the body in. When Luffy returned she noticed the change in his expression.

"Vivi!" He said as he rolled his shoulders and clenched his fist. "We have to keep going forward! We've been sitting here too long!" Then he turned and began walking out of the village with Sanji, Usopp and Chopper behind him. "Hai! Let's go to Yuba." Vivi said as she turned to face the rest of us.

"That's where the rebel army is, isn't it?" Zoro questioned. "Yeh." Vivi replied while standing up. "I will persuade the leader to stop the uprising." Both Sakura and Zoro raised an eyebrow at this. "Pursuade?" Zoro questioned.

"Yes! All of this has been orchestrated by Crocodile. I'm going to tell them the truth and put an end to this blood shed!" She said confidently.

"Okay" Said Zoro as he began to follow Luffy.

Sakura stood in place an extra second thinking about what had just happened. Luffy was more like Naruto than she thought. His want to jump into situations before taking into account all of the factors. They let their emotions control their decisions. Sakura wasn't suggesting it was a bad thing but sometimes, going into a fight with just a belief in yourself and you nakama and expecting to come out victorious resulted in the useless deaths of people. Sakura was about to walk again when she noticed Ace was still standing next to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Sakura sighed and started to walk side by side with him. "They're Naïve." Was all she said as she sighed. Ace looked forward and nodded, understanding some of what she was getting at. "Do you think that they can't do it though?" He questioned. Sakura thought about it before she replied.

"No, it's not that. It's just that they aren't aware of the consequences of their actions or the possibility of them failing. If Vivi is unable to persuade the head of the rebellion then what do they plan on doing? Even if they persuade the rebellion I don't think it will stop crocodile. I have a feeling there is an ulterior motive." Sakura paused before continuing.

Ace watched her face as she voiced her concerns. He noticed the way her eyes softened as she spoke about them and the way her voice quieted

"It's one thing to be willing to die for your nakama, but it's another thing entirely to die a pointless death that doesn't help anyone." Sakura finished. She couldn't help but think about her own actions in the past. She tried to kill Sasuke twice and all she ended up doing was becoming a burden. Even in the end, Sakura wasn't very useful.

Ace watched a flash of regret and pain surface in her eyes as she said this. He couldn't help but want to reassure her. "You worry too much. Have faith in Luffy and in Vivi. Luffy has a way of over-coming the greatest obstacles."

"Besides," He turned to smile down at her then. "They'll have you there to support and protect them too." Sakura smiled back up at Ace before they continued walking. _This time, she wouldn't let anyone die. _

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><p>Hey everyone I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think.<p>

This chapter followed a lot of what happened in the anime but after the next couple of chapters I'm hoping to be able to change a few of the fights and events that happen.

Because I have quite a few Essays and assessments due in the next couple of weeks, Ill only be able to update once a week. However, once those are out of the way I'm hoping to be able to either update twice a week or just make the chapters longer.

Thank you for reading everyone!


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